Elizabeth Harper

Practice Areas

Elizabeth is a Partner at the law firm and head of the Financial Services Department. Her practice areas include Banking & Finance, Commercial and Offshore Trust, Civil and Commercial Litigation, Company Law and Corporate Law. Her client base consists of numerous international banks, corporations and corporate trustees whom she advises on various banking, commercial, trust, financial and securitization matters.

Elizabeth holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of London, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) (Hons.) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) (Hons.) both from the University of the West Indies. She is a graduate of the Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica (LEC). She is a Notary Public and holds the designations of Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), Chartered Director (C.Dir) and Chartered Secretary (C.Sec).

She has been recognized as a leading asset recovery lawyer in Who’s Who Legal: Asset Recovery (2014) and in the ranking ‘Leaders in their Field’ by Chambers & Partners (2018).

Chambers Global Guide commentary cites, “Elizabeth Harper represents clients in a variety of transactional mandates and litigation proceedings, with a particular emphasis on financial services and trusts matters. She is located in Charlestown and is additionally respected for her counsel on contentious and non-contentious commercial matters.” (2022) “She wins the respect of her peers who describe her as ‘a great lawyer to deal with.’” (2021)

She has appeared or acted in various high end commercial litigation in Nevis, such to include: -

• an ownership dispute concerning various offshore companies across numerous jurisdictions, managing over US$1.5 billion in assets.

• a loan and arbitration dispute concerning a listed company involving claims of fraud and recovery of shares.

• an international bankruptcy, asset tracing and fraud dispute concerning trust and company structures.

• a shareholder dispute in a company valued at over US$3 billion.

• a dispute in an international company of strategic interest in the Russian Federation valued at over US$30 billion.

• international fraudulent transactions involving bribe payments, secret commissions, and dishonest diversion of monies arising in over US$50 million in damages.

• a dispute against the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis on a compulsory land acquisition matter of US$30 million.

• the first-class action lawsuit brought in the Eastern Caribbean under the provisions of the Civil Procedure Rules 2000, regarding a Christian affinity ponzi scheme.

Elizabeth also has an extensive trust practice which includes her regularly advising, drafting and rendering opinions to trustees, protectors and beneficiaries on various trust matters, and where necessary, conducting litigation of claims on their behalf. She has been involved in several significant trust matters including a major multi-jurisdictional trust dispute concerning several billion dollars of assets and claims for removal of trustees.

She is the contributing editor/ author of the Nevis Chapter in the four volume treatise, Asset Protection: Domestic and International Law and Tactics (Thomson Reuters)

Her non-contentious experience regularly includes the handling of a wide range of contractual and tortious disputes, financial services and related matters, economic citizenship, and complex corporate work (transactional, securitization, restructuring and general advisory).

She has been involved in numerous million dollar real estate transactions and provides advice to high net worth individuals and investors.

She has provided expert written testimony on aspects of the laws of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in several proceedings internationally.

Elizabeth is admitted to practice in Jamaica and the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis. She is a member of the St. Christopher and Nevis Bar Association and the OECS Bar Association. She is a full member of STEP, and currently serves as the Vice-Chairperson for the STEP Nevis Chapter. She is a member of the Disciplinary Committee established pursuant to the Legal Profession Act 2008, as amended.

She has previously served as Treasurer and a member of the St. Christopher and Nevis Bar Association. Elizabeth has also previously served as Chairperson and the Assistant Secretary for the STEP Nevis Chapter, member of the STEP Caribbean Conference Committee and member and Secretary of the STEP Caribbean and Latin America Regional Committee.

Elizabeth was a recipient of the STEP Founder’s Award for 2018.